NashvilleGab - Country music news and Nashville celebrity gossip

Kenny Rogers a 2013 Country Music Hall of Fame Inductee (from the mailbag)

Press release from last week: 

This morning during a press conference at the famed Country Music Hall of Fame Rotunda, the Country Music Association announced that Kenny Rogers, Bobby Bare and Cowboy Jack Clement will become the newest members of the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame! The three will be formally inducted during an official medallion ceremony later this year.

Josh Turner, Kenny Rogers, Montgomery Gentry, & Dierks Bentley to join George Jones for final Nashville Concert (from the mailbag)

Montgomery Gentry, Kenny Rogers, Josh Turner, and Dierks Bentley are the latest additions to the ever-growing list of talent set to take stage for the final Nashville concert of George Jones’ career. Taking place at the Bridgestone Arena on Friday, November 22, 2013, the sure-to-be unforgettable show is already gearing up to be a star-studded event with already announced artists Charlie Daniels, Lorrie Morgan, Randy Travis, Jamey Johnson, and Gene Watson. 

“I am excited that my friends all want to be with me on this show,” says George Jones. “This is sure going to be a fun and emotional night with lots of memories, friends, and great country music.”

Tickets for the Nashville finale are currently on sale at all Ticketmaster locations.

Kenny Rogers to Join Forces with bergenPAC and Englewood Fire Department for Toy Drive Collection In Wake of Hurricane Sandy (from the mailbag)

Kenny Rogers is teaming up with the Bergen Performing Arts Center and the Englewood Fire Department in Englewood, New Jersey, with the help of sponsors Fisher-Price and Mattel, to collect toys this holiday season for children in need in Bergen County, New Jersey, including areas severely hit by Hurricane Sandy.  Always an important event in the community, the annual holiday toy drive will carry special significance this year taking into account the devastation Hurricane Sandy caused throughout the state of New Jersey. 
 
Rogers, who brings his 23-city Christmas and Hits Tour with special guest Billy Dean to the bergenPAC on Wednesday, December 19, will match monetary donations up to $10,000 to purchase toys for the drive.  In addition, Fisher-Price has generously donated 200 toys, and Mattel is offering a special discount on toys purchased with monetary donations raised during the drive, assuring that every donation received will go even further. 
 
Donations to the toy drive can be made in three ways:

Duet straight from heaven....Kenny Rogers and Stephen Colbert sing 'Islands in the Stream'

Best mini duet ever!!!  Or at least of today. 

Kenny Rogers stopped by 'Good Morning America' on Tuesday morning to promote his new autobiography 'Luck or Something Like It' (purchase) and ended up taking the time to sing a little Islands In The Stream with Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert. 

I love me some Kenny and I love me some Stephen, put the two together and I'm one happy camper!  Now if these two would just do this for real and release a snazzy music video for the song, I'd be even happier. 

Kenny Rogers' memoir gets a cover

As I've mentioned before, Kenny Rogers is gearing up to release a new memoir called 'Luck or Something Like It' on October 2, 2012. The book announcement was made a while back without the benefit of getting to see the book's cover. Today I just happened to stumble on the cover and thought I'd share just in case you happened to care.  

Fans can preorder the book from Amazon. 

Glen Campbell pulls out of Australian tour with Kenny Rogers due to illness

Glen Campbell is currently on his Goodbye Tour, hitting various spots around the country to perform one last time for family, friends, and fans before his recently diagnosed Alzheimer's makes touring impossible. 

But it appears the touring he's been doing over the last year or so may finally be taking a toll on legend.

Campbell was scheduled to hit Australia in August with friend Kenny Rogers for multiple shows, but was recently forced to pull out due to illness, but most people seem to agree that it's probably Campbell's progressing Alzheimer's that has made him unable to travel the long distance to Australia.     

According to Kenny Rogers' official website, multiple Australian country music stars will take Campbell's place on the tour including John Williamson, Beccy Cole, Lee Kernaghan, Troy Cassar-Daley and Sara Storer. 

Campbell currently has 8 stops left on his Goodbye Tour with the last being October 20 in Torrington, CT. So far only his Australian shows have been canceled.  

Sending out well wishes to the country great.  

The boys of 'Breaking Bad' showed Kenny Rogers some love last season

I've never personally watched the T.V. show 'Breaking Bad' but I know a lot of people do so this is kind of fun. 

Kenny Rogers posted this photo to his Facebook today along with:

Do you watch Breaking Bad? In season 4 of the series, Walter and Jessie are seen wearing matching Kenny Rogers shirts! These shirts are vintage replica T’s that have recently been sold in Kenny’s online store and on tour! Where else have you spotted Kenny in television and movies? Leave your finds in the comments below...we may just post your discoveries!

The show has just went into its 5th season so this scene is actually from last year, but it's still pretty cool.  I looked in the Kenny Rogers store on his site and they don't currently have these particular shirts in stock, but it wouldn't surprise me if they start printing them again. 

UPDATE:  There have been a whole lot of people coming to this post looking for the 'Breaking Bad' Kenny Rogers shirt. I've looked and looked for these but other than eBay, I haven't been able to find them. After taking another look at the t-shirt that Walter is wearing above, I'm pretty sure these shirts came from Walmart. If you notice his shirt has a size sticker on it like Walmart places on their T-shirts. I know that my local Walmart carries all kinds of vintage t-shirts such as for Dr. Pepper, Kiss, etc. so I'm pretty sure that's where these two T's came from.  I've looked at Walmart's website and can't find them, but they may carry them in the store. 

Kenny Rogers gets ready to release his autobiography

Kenny Rogers has been working on his autobiography and on Friday afternoon, gave fans some great news. Kenny tweeted:

The autobiography is done! It’s called LUCK OR SOMETHING LIKE IT and will be released on October 2, 2012 by HarperCollins in the U.S.!

Kenny says on his website about the project: 

"I have to admit I’ve had an incredible life...Once I started actually recalling some of the special moments, I was shocked as to how much fun it was for me.  I would hope that as you read this book, you get a sense of where I came from, who I am, and where I’m going." 

Fans of Kenny can preorder 'Luck or Something Like It' now on Amazon.com. 

Kenny Rogers laughs about the time he nearly had to have his ears amputated

Wow! Now this is a harrowing tale!

Kenny Rogers has a bit of advice for new artists....adapt to where you're going or you too may find yourself nearly losing your ears. 

Trust Kenny, he talks from experience. 

During Bonnaroo last month, Fuse caught up with the music legend and asked him to tell a tour story. What he told was a cautionary tale. 

"We were in a [Canadian city] that was 50 degrees below zero. Now I'm from Texas and I'm walking around with no ear pads on and my ears started hurting. I go back to the hotel and the guy says, 'If you stayed out there another minute you would have had to have your ears amputated.' You learn on these tours: Adapt to where you're going," Rogers tells us, laughing.

An earless Kenny Rogers, now that would have been quite the site.  

Kenny Rogers' fancy house yanked from auction at last minute

Beer's are on Kenny!

A couple of weeks ago I had told you about Kenny Rogers getting ready to auction off his mansion in Athens, Georgia. Turns out Kenny didn't need the auction and sold it before it took place, although not without the flair of a real showman.  

According to onlineathens.com, the auction was all set to start on Tuesday, June 26th, with bidders coming from all over the country with their $100,000 registered checks in hand (what you had to have to be able to bid), when the auction was suddenly and without explanation called off.  

Later on, a lawyer took the podium and told those in attendance, "Kenny has decided to take the house off the market."

On Wednesday, the auction company explained that Kenny had sold the property for $2.25 million. The appraisal price had been $3.5 million.

The website that had been set up to help publicize the auction said:

On a beautiful sunny Georgia afternoon bidders came forward for the once in a lifetime opportunity to bid on the famed "Lake House" estate designed and owned by The Gambler himself, Kenny Rogers. Interest for the property came from far and wide, as is typical for a Grand Estates auction. Over 11,000 people visited the auction website, 270 prospective buyers inquired from 16 states and Canada, 80 groups previewed the home, and 12 bidders registered for the auction. "It was a great sale today and the Gambler's bet paid off. Both Kenny and the buyer are very happy with the sale and look forward to closing!", stated Scott Kirk, VP of Grand Estates Auction. 

If you're still in the market for a mega-mansion with a hefty price tag that belongs to a living country legend, there's always George Jones' place in Tennessee. It's set to be auctioned off on July 7th. Info here.